I'm back… Let's talk injuries…

Under UK competition law all sectors of the same market have to be treated equally – there is no defined carve out for “not for profit” or “blogs”

Therefore if the leagues want to continue to charge for use of fixtures to commercial sites they have to use the same rules for all sites competing for eyeballs on the web

There is no legal definition of “not for profit” but there is a registered charity status which one can apply for and we would honour a charity discount (10%)

There is no problem in mentioning past fixtures once they have been played, or league tables – at the moment the leagues allow free use of these.

You can also mention the next fixture provided it is in the form of an editorial preview article (you cannot string a series of future fixtures together in a pseudo article).

You cannot show a list of future fixtures without the appropriate licence otherwise we will chase you to remove the future fixtures

You will need the permission of Arsenal before you can purchase a licence – the cost of the licence is £1.00 + VAT if Arsenal award you “nominated fanzine” status (they can only award this once per season).

A single club’s fixtures cost £266 +VAT for editorial use, with the club’s permission.

And this apparently apples to a personal blog which is designed only to talk about my favourite subject, my passion, my club which is Arsenal. The freudin slip which is in the above is “commercial site”, which implies commerce which implies I make money. I’ll try my best to fight this – for principle only – but I am one person writing a blog – how far will I get?

Let the blog begin…

On to the main topic of today and that is our injuries. Talking to my mate JAT, we’ve been looking at the problem which is our injuries. Our last two games against Man City and Dynamo have seen us without some key players, and you’ve got to think why we seem to be the only top club with injuries every year.
Let’s take a look at who was missing against Kyiv and in brackets, let’s look at the corresponding players from the other clubs from the top 4.
Adebayor (Rooney, Torres, Drogba)
Eduardo (Tevez, Keane, Anelka)
Rosicky (Ronaldo, Riera, Joe Cole)
Nasri (Nani, Gerrard, Kalou)
Walcott (Giggs, Benayoun, Lampard)
Diaby (Carrick, Alonso, Mikel)
Sagna (Brown, Carragher, Bosingwa)
Toure (Ferdinand, Agger, Terry)
Now if you think about the other top teams and how they would fair if they had the players mentioned missing, would they be winning every game? Would they beat Kyiv at home? Would they lose to a fully fit Man City side? Yes, you can argue that Diaby isn’t the same as Alonso, but my point isn’t to compare like for like, but to compare how these types of injuries would affect other sides. But the other sides never seem to have these injury problems to the extent we have. So we’ve got to question why we have so many injuries. Let’s look at this logically:

We are the most fouled against team in the league.

OR we have too tough a training regime

OR we have bad physios, fitness coaches

OR we have injury prone players.

I don’t know the reason, but I’d say point 1 is statistically proven. 2 and 3 are said with no knowledge at all. And 4 can’t be true, as Rosicky, Eduardo and Diaby were hardly ever injured before they joined us. Some sources say that we’re very meticulous when we sign players. Supposedly we have one of the toughest medicals around.
Food for thought, hey?
So looking at our injuries, we’ve got Nasri, Adebayor and Sagna back for Sunday, three first team players, whom if fit, will all start against Chelsea and give our team a welcome dimension attacking wise and of course Sagna will give defensive stability to the team.
Our new captain Cesc, has been in the media and is determined to beat Chelsea. Check these comments out, they’ll make you proud:

“We want to get back into the title race, so we have to win. We could get some points back. The other teams have difficult games as well. We will see. Chelsea have been playing really well, the times I watched them, they have played good football with quick combinations. I respect them. Arsenal never go anywhere for a draw. We always go to win and Chelsea do the same. At the end of the season, we will see what we can achieve but at the moment we are in every competition. People can say whatever they want about the title race but we have only played 14 games. It is not over yet.”

It’s not over yet young Cesc, and I hope the team listens and puts in a performance in what will be a classic 6 pointer.
Okay, time to go, time to sleep.
Back tomorrow.]]>

< ![CDATA[Fabregas is way much better at PR for the club than Gallas, and we definitely need him saying stuff like this. Hopefully the other players think the same way!
Oh by the way, 'bout the fixtures list thingy, that sucks! I'm currently doing my masters in law (albeit a completely different area of law) so I might be able to help a bit? I didn't even realise there's a fixtures list on this blog!]]>

Pissed off

< ![CDATA[Dev am glad ur back. Am sure the desperate time we find ourselves have made some people more desperate.
I ve nothing to say at the moment as a reagards our constant injury. But I would say if we ve most of these players back by Feb, we ve a chance.
Like I said earlier, Chelsea re beatable. Mikel is not good enough for a Dm position and then there defense is not as it used to(solid). We should exploit them in this one.
Whats happening to our V.P?]]>

ny

< ![CDATA[Hi guys,
I think Nasri shud not be involved.He might have done well against old man garry Nevile but against Bosinigwa surely he is going to struggle.But as Diaby is Wenger's option to replace him , I am really worried.]]>

zohaib

< ![CDATA[I'v read about this fixture list issue on another fan-site as well. its quite ridiculous to be honest.
th topic itself though - i'm glad someone's written about our injury troubles. we'v been having them every season since we won a trophy. and i like the way you'v written it. its clear and easy to understand. and it covers everything.
i cant imagine how manutd, chelsea, or liverpool would do with 8 of their first teamers out. i think its fair to say that we may have more players in our squad but maybe its also fair to say that our second string isnt as strong as any of the other top4's.
but this injury issue seems to have become a regular part of our season. and thats not acceptable. i dont kno what wenger's done to address this issue, but i hope he has realized that something needs to be done.
the one possible cause being that we'r the most fouled-against team. wenger definitely needs to address this issue. he needs to come out stronger and talk about it like fergie does. that man is so f* intelligent. he knows just how to get his way. he constantly asks for ronaldo to be protected before every potentially physical game. and thats great timing. before the match. thats what wenger needs to do. and then remember last season in the fa cup when manutd lost to portsmouth. anyone hear wat fergie had to say ? he made sense but as an arsenal fan, i couldnt resist having a laugh. he sed that referee's wernt judged on their performance when players were. players would get yellow/red cards and a team would have the option to appeal for a red, or so. he went on, but my point is that after he said that, the general feeling was that he'd get some sort of a fine or something. i dont kno if he did but what did happen immediately was that the fa said they'd look into fergie's concerns. the point is fergie did it in such a way, that he sounded like some sort of advisor, a wise law-maker or something. he didnt whine after a defeat. so thats the way to do it.
we know wenger's shrewd. he makes interesting and funny quotes. and he does raise concerns about players from other teams tackling our players in a way thats not fair and in a way that they'd never tackle another team. but either he doesnt say it right or doesnt say it enough or they just dont want to listen to him.
i remember him after eduardo's leg got broken by taylor, he sed something about knowing what plans the other teams and managers had against us. and that he'd reveal their nasty tactics one day.
he needs to reveal all now ! this is the time to do it. when it can make a difference. not when he's retired and decided to write a book about it. this is the time to protect his players and prevent his team from getting all its first 11 injured and having to rely on the youngsters to win a title.]]>

zohaib

and best of luck fighting with the morons dev. i’m in if u need support.

Dan

< ![CDATA[Certainly we are the best equipped squad in the country to deal with such an injury crisis. Does that play on the minds of Wenger and his physios? I'm not saying the players aren't really injured but i think we may give players longer to recover than the rest.
Plus lady luck just hasn't been on our side. Lets hope its the beginning of the end when Eduardo comes back. Its so close now.
Its fucking mental that your not allowed to display fixtures. We need a way of beating the system? Maby a list of places you 'intend to visit' for away fixtures, and then a list of 'relatives coming to stay' with their 'home towns' listed as well for home fixtures. lol. I don't know, something along those lines. You can make it work Dev. You will certainly be wasting your time trying to change the law.]]>

http://kierandelaney.net/blog kierandelaney.net/blog

< ![CDATA[Not one to blockquote too often but exciting news! Eddie played last night!!

Eduardo da Silva stepped up his rehabilitation from a fractured fibula and a dislocated ankle on Wednesday, as the Croatian striker featured for an Arsenal XI against Nottingham Forest, in a behind closed doors friendly.

The encounter was arranged due to the gap in fixtures which both second string sides suffer during November, but it also presented Arsène Wenger will an opportunity to give the 25-year-old some vital minutes in his bid for fitness. Forest have a strong relationship with the Gunners, after Liam Brady sent Abu Ogogo, Paul Rodgers and James Dunne to the City Ground for trials last month, with the latter being snapped up.

James Dunne is only on loan for the time being, meaning he did not get the opportunity to line up against Arsenal. The team had a strong Carling Cup feel too it, with the likes of Kieran Gibbs, Mark Randall and Gavin Hoyte all being involved. Banfield’s boys ran out 2-0 winners, as Jay Simpson continued his run of form with a well taken brace.

‘Dudu’ reportedly came through unscathed, and will now step up his training with the first team as he edges closer to a first team return. However, after Simpson’s strikes in the Cup and now against Forest, competition will be as hot as ever!]]>

http://arsespeak.wordpress.com jamesgillesp

< ![CDATA[I had the same problem a few months ago Dev, my blog was closed for a few days and then edited by WordPress, I just removed the fixtures. It does seem ridiculous.
I think our players are a little injury prone - RVP and Rosicky. We have also been unlucky recently with injuries, Eduardo for example.
I agree totally with you, we have to keep it in mind that over the last 2 years there has always been a first team player out injured.]]>

Dan

Great news Kieran, thanks for posting that. He is almost here.

zohaib

< ![CDATA[thats great news about eduardo !
any chances of him facing chelsea maybe ? 20 mins or so ?]]>

zohaib

< ![CDATA[and more great news.
just read on the arsenal site and its confirmed. sagna, nasri and adebayor are all part of the squad and fit !
hopefully that makes it a more even game.]]>

http://www.insideworldsoccer.com inside World Soccer

Eduardo is coming back? Well that’s a good news.

Fo

The blog is back!

AJ

The FA are idiots, I doubt they even saw the site, proberbly a sp*rs fan saw it and got all pissy, anyway about tomorrow, at the moment my friend and I have decided to follow the arsenal ladies, I think that says it all.

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